Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with deep regret that I inform the Senate of the death, on 18 May 2018, of the Hon. Sir John Leslie Carrick AC, KCMG, a senator for the state of New South Wales from 1971 to 1987.

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate records its deep sorrow at the death, on 18 May 2018, of the Hon. Sir John Carrick AC, KCMG, former Senator for New South Wales, Minister and Leader of the Government in the Senate in the Fraser Government, places on record its deep appreciation for his remarkable life of patriotism and public service, and tenders its profound sympathy to his family in their bereavement.

A fierce patriot and formidable political operator, the Hon. Sir John Carrick stands shoulder to shoulder with the great builders of the Liberal Party. He was one of the leading lights of the Menzies era, having had a profound and lasting impact on their national story. Born on 4 September 1918, Sir John was the fourth of six children to Emily and Arthur James Carrick. Spending his formative years in Woollahra, Randwick and Bondi, his youth was not without trial, with his father, a government clerk, joining so many other Australians in losing his job during the grim years of the Great Depression. Sir John's natural intellect was evident from a young age, and he secured a scholarship to the distinguished Sydney Technical High School before going on to graduate with a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney in 1941.

However, Sir John's story soon became like that of many other young men of his generation. Having served in the Sydney University Regiment in 1939, he joined the Australian Imperial Force in 1940 and stepped into the maelstrom that was the Second World War, serving bravely in West Timor as part of Sparrow Force, before being taken as a prisoner of war by the Japanese. He spent several harsh years in South-East Asia, including time interred in the infamous Changi Prison and labouring on the Burma-Thailand railway. Yet for Sir John the hardship that he endured did nothing to diminish a natural spirit of optimism and decency. In fact, he learned Malay and Japanese so as to act as an interpreter. Stirringly, following his liberation in 1945, Sir John raised funds alongside his fellow servicemen for medical personnel who were at the coalface of the effort to rebuild the decimated nations of South-East Asia.

The end of the war saw Sir John return to Australia, doing what he could to pick up where he had left off. He continued to serve in the Citizen Military Forces until 1951, and on 2 June that year he married Diana Margaret Hunter, who went by the name of Angela. In time, three daughters would follow: Diane, Jane and Fiona. During this period, Sir John then jumped into a very different arena, taking on a role as a research officer in the New South Wales office of the then fledgling Liberal Party of Australia. Having been formed only a short few years earlier and not having yet won a federal election, the Liberal Party that Sir John joined would benefit greatly from his coming lifetime of service.

When he was appointed state secretary in 1948, the legend of the so-called 'grey eminence of Ash Street' was born. Sir John would work tirelessly alongside then state president Bill Spooner, later to become a senator and Senate leader himself, to build the party from the ground up. Whether it was engaging members, founding branches or fielding candidates at the polls, he was a cornerstone on which the New South Wales Division of the Liberal Party was built and became a fixture during the 23 years of federal Liberal-Country Party coalition government that began in 1949.

It was in the closing days of this era that Sir John finally entered the parliament, succeeding Senator Alister McMullin and formally commencing his term on 1 July 1971 after securing victory at the 1970 federal election—incidentally, the year I was born. A committed federalist, Sir John, in his first speech in this chamber, outlined an expansive plan for reforms to the federal system that sought to avoid what he described as the 'Oliver Twist syndrome' of state fiscal disempowerment. His words also set the tone for a political career marked by humility and decency—that of a man who was always careful to separate political and ideological differences from the personalities that conveyed them. Sir John reviled attempts to split Australians along lines of class and faith, noting in his first speech:

Divisiveness is the evil of politics and I hope to do something to reduce it.

Today, decades later, we can well reflect on how much our contemporary Commonwealth might well benefit from some more of that spirit.

A common thread throughout Sir John's parliamentary career was his clear regard for the role of the Senate. He was often quick to put his view that this place serves as 'the only safeguard against unbridled power and arrogance'. This was buttressed by his belief in the Senate committee system's importance to the conduct of cautious and considered public policy. I note that, while a fixture today, the modern Senate committee framework was in its infancy at the time of Sir John's entry into the Senate. No doubt many would agree that his early appreciation for the important work undertaken by these committees was prescient indeed.

Entering Billy Snedden's shadow ministry in 1974 as opposition spokesman for urban improvement and, later, as opposition spokesman on federalism and intergovernmental relations, Sir John was quickly given the opportunity to put his philosophical convictions into action. But it was the Fraser government's sweeping election victory in 1975 that gave him the chance to make his greatest policy impact. Serving briefly as Minister for Housing and Construction and Minister for Urban and Regional Development in late 1975, Sir John took particular joy in his work as Minister for Education between 1975 and 1979. Such was his passion for education that he adapted his one great hope in his first speech. For him, a modern, quality education was the greatest tool in the fight to give everyday Australians the best possible opportunity to better their lives and those of their families. He marshalled the full force of this passion while serving as minister, and many of his reforms became the bedrock of the education system that all Australians continue to enjoy today. Among other pursuits, he advocated fiercely for greater choice in Australian schools and secured more funding for the Catholic and non-government schooling sectors, which have since shaped the development of generations of Australian schoolchildren. Then Prime Minister Fraser was very wise to place Sir John in roles tied to his interests, and he later took on the post of Minister Assisting the Prime Minister in Federal Affairs and Minister for National Development and Energy.

But, beyond his policy contributions, Sir John's famous decency and good nature allowed him to excel as one of the greatest parliamentary leaders of the age, serving as Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate from February 1978 and, from August of that same year, as Leader of the Government in the Senate and Vice President of the Executive Council. Too often today it is assumed that the clash of political wills, ideas and offerings must be cruel and personal. In Sir John's leadership during that period, we see that contention put to bed. Be it on the campaign trail or on the floor of the Senate chamber, Sir John always sought to draw as clear a policy contrast between the Liberal Party and its opponents as possible. This spoke, I believe, of two great faiths: his belief in the superiority of the Liberal vision and in the good sense of the Australian people to make the right call at the right time. Yet none could suggest that this emphasis on a fierce political clash detracted in any way from the decency and collegiality of the man who promoted it. It says much about Sir John's character and leadership style that figures on both sides of the Australian political divide were quick to make moving tributes to him.

The Fraser government's defeat in March 1983 brought Sir John's tenure as Senate leader to an end, and it would be some four years later that he would retire from the Senate altogether, yet even then his public service was not done. Sir John's passion for education drove him in the years that followed to serve as Chairman of the Committee of Review of New South Wales Schools in 1988 and 1989—a review which helped draft the 1990 Education Reform Act and benefited greatly from Sir John's unique mix of zeal and experience. Further to this, he served at various times as a member of the New South Wales ministerial advisory council for teacher education and on the advisory board of the Macquarie University Institute of Early Childhood.

A life well lived in service to his country was also officially recognised when, in 1982, Sir John was made a knight commander of the Order of St Michael and St George for 'services to the Parliament of Australia'. Further to this, he was awarded honorary Doctor of Letters degrees in 1988 and 2000 by the University of Sydney and Macquarie University in addition to being appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Australian College of Educators. Commemorating the young Commonwealth that he loved and served, in 2001 Sir John fittingly received the Centenary Medal for outstanding leadership and service to the Australian community, especially through education, and had the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education named after him in 2004. In 2008 Sir John was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in recognition of distinguished service in the area of educational reform in Australia.

Yet all of these titles and honours did nothing to erode the humility of a man whose life was defined by honest and authentic service, be it that of the young prisoner of war, the respected minister and Senate leader, the mentor to a generation of Liberals or the loving husband and father. In this sense the life and legacy of Sir John have earned him a place in the lore of the Liberal Party and alongside the greatest Australians—a patriot before a partisan, but a passionate Liberal to the end. Both this party and the nation are stronger and more prosperous because of his service.

Earlier this year Sir John lost his beloved wife of 67 years, Angela, just three months before his own passing. To Sir John's daughters, Diane, Jane and Fiona, and to all of his family and loved ones, on behalf of the Australian government and the Senate I offer my deepest condolences.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on behalf of the Labor opposition to acknowledge the passing of former senator and minister the Hon. Sir John Leslie Carrick AC, KCMG, who passed away on 18 May 2018 at the age of 99. I commence by conveying our deepest condolences to his relatives and to his friends. I also recognise those on the opposite side of the chamber who knew him and learnt from him and who benefited from his mentoring and legacy.

There have been only a handful of real giants in the Liberal Party in its history, according to many observers of Australian politics. Some are well-known former Prime Ministers: Sir Robert Menzies, Malcolm Fraser and John Howard. Another may be less readily identifiable in the public consciousness but no less deserving of this description, and that is Sir John Carrick. As Mr Shorten told the House:

… giants of our movement across the generations knew and admired John Carrick not just as a worthy foe and an opponent of great civility and courtesy but also as a person of substance …

As a party official and then as senator and minister, Sir John served our nation at the highest levels of our democracy. But of course it was in service first in uniform, as an Army officer and prisoner of war, that his enduring values and philosophies were forged. These principles, grounded in the faith, in the ability of individuals educated and knowledgeable to flourish under the umbrella of the right democratic political structures, would guide the work of the next eight decades of his life. A modest individual, humbled by profound experiences early in his life, he was a man of unimpeachable integrity and extraordinary humanity.

Sir John Carrick grew up in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. He was an employee of the Australian Gas Light Company. He undertook study in economics at the University of Sydney, graduating in 1941. From 1946 his association with the newly formed Liberal Party began, firstly as a research officer in the New South Wales division and then as its general secretary. He held this position for a lengthy period, from 1948 until he commenced in this place in 1971. Sir John led policy development based on having long-term plans and trusting voters to embrace positions that enhanced distinctions and contrasts between opposing political parties. He gained respect amongst his own colleagues as well as his political opponents. He ran the party in its earliest years in financially constrained circumstances, but this did not limit his capacity to forge ahead. He made a direct contribution to the ideas debate by publishing his own thoughts about party systems and Liberal philosophy early in his tenure.

Basing great value on accessibility and electability, Sir John sought out quality candidates wherever he could, with great success. He saw the need to campaign more than just at election time, astutely recognising opportunities for growth as postwar Australia diversified and released itself from some of the shackles that characterised the first 50 years of the federated nation. In particular, his lifelong interest in education came to the fore as he identified increased government assistance for independent and parochial schools as beneficial and also as a potential election strategy. Mooted to replace the New South Wales division president Bill Spooner in the Senate, it was the retirement of Alister McMullin that eventually paved the way for Sir John to go from party official to parliamentarian.

But first a step back. As for many of his generation, Sir John's life was interrupted by the onset of World War II, and in December 1940 he joined the Australian Imperial Force, serving in West Timor. His capture by the Japanese in 1942 meant it would not be until October 1945 that he would return to Australia. As a POW, he endured the brutal conditions of forced labour on the infamous Thai-Burma Railway, where he served, in addition to detention in Timor, Java and Malaya.

Of course, also captured at this time was his future federal parliamentary colleague Tom Uren, who would later become a Labor member of the House of Representatives. Many senators would be aware of the close relationship Tom Uren shared with our colleague in the House Anthony Albanese, and through this relationship Mr Albanese was able to meet and converse with Sir John, whose friendship with Mr Uren was forged in the most horrific and testing of circumstances, continued through their further service to the nation in the parliament, and endured throughout their lives. I would encourage anyone who has not yet done so to read Mr Albanese's contribution to the condolence motion, which he delivered last month. In it he tells of meeting Sir John and learning much, not just of his war service but of his family and political life. Mr Albanese spoke of Sir John's capacity as a thinker, an intellectual, but also of the way his philosophy and character were shaped by his experience in captivity. He had witnessed great acts of personal strength and moral courage; he had also witnessed fierce brutality and mistreatment. It is a demonstration of his own values that he refused to give evidence against his Japanese captors in trials for war crimes, demonstrating forgiveness for a people that Sir John saw as having been tortured by a political system that had held them captive. Instead, he resolved to engage in the conflict of political ideas in support of the strength of the individual and, of course, parliamentary democracy.

Sir John Carrick entered the federal parliament at the tail end of the unbroken period of over two decades of federal Liberal government that he had done so much to create and sustain. Taking up his place in the Senate in 1971, after being elected in the previous year, he would go on to win re-election four times prior to retiring in 1987. Senator Cormann has already described Sir John's appreciation of the importance of Senate debate and, of course, the Senate committee system. Sir John was also successful in getting under the skin of his opponents, both in opposition and, later, in government, which was admired by one such adversary in the form of John Button. It did, however, mean his speeches were apparently frequently interrupted by interjections. Labor senator Harry Cant, a miner and union official before his election in 1959, was eloquent in his description of Sir John's political philosophies in the wake of Sir John's first speech. The Western Australian pronounced it 'a masterpiece of presentation' that he regretted:

… was that it was not made in 1900 because it contained all the conservative shibboleths that one could possibly collect.

Senator Cant went on to express his aspiration that the new Senator Carrick would 'educate himself to the standard of the necessities of 1971'.

But his Liberal opponent would come to demonstrate he was a man suited to the times. Sir John's service as shadow minister was brief, commencing in 1974 and ending with the elevation of Malcolm Fraser to the position of Prime Minister, a role Sir John had encouraged. He then held a number of portfolios as minister in the Fraser government. The most substantive of these were divided in almost equal portions: Education from 1975 to 1979 and then National Development and Energy until 1983. Education was an area of longstanding interest for Sir John. If one returns to his first speech, he says:

I have one great hope. I believe that in the vision of the future to meet the challenges of the future, the great solutions and the great motivations not being created by economic instruments will be created by a new philosophy of education.

He saw education as critical to the strength of our democracy, balancing the need for people to be stimulated in mind and spirit with preparation for vocation. As minister, he built structures to coordinate Commonwealth involvement in tertiary education and bolster federal assistance to the state-run tertiary and further education institutes. There were further substantial assessments and reforms directed at the effectiveness of Commonwealth investment in university and vocational education. As my colleague Senator Cormann said, in recognition of this and other contributions in this area, in 2004 the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education was named in his honour.

Halfway through the life of the Fraser government, Sir John gained the National Development and Energy portfolio and sought to promote exploration and the development of alternative fuels, alongside full import parity pricing for domestic food oil, as a cornerstone of the government's policy. He also became an advocate for nuclear energy. After a little over five months as the deputy leader, in 1978 he became Leader of the Government in the Senate, a position he held until the election of the Labor government of Bob Hawke in 1983.

He retired from the Senate in 1987, after spending four years in opposition, holding the Hawke government to account, and being a vigorous contributor to the Joint Select Committee on Electoral Reform. This opened the door for him to contribute to public life in a variety of new ways, including to the Gas Council of New South Wales, and in aged care, but it was to education which he returned most substantively. He was appointed by the newly-elected Greiner government to embark on an extensive review of and consultation on its education system and he went on to serve in several other education-related roles, including teacher education, early childhood education and the Advisory Committee of the Gifted Education Research, Resource and Information Centre at UNSW.

Whilst he was not someone who sought honours or tributes, in 2008 Sir John was appointed Companion of the Order of Australia for distinguished service in the area of education reform in Australia. He was also himself a great educator, mentoring multiple generations of Liberal politicians. First among those was one who sits alongside Sir John in the upper echelons of the Liberal Party's history—that is, John Howard. Mr Howard cut his political teeth in the New South Wales division led by Sir John before serving alongside him in the Fraser cabinet and later going on to become Prime Minister. Mr Howard said simply:

I learned more about politics from John than from any other person I have known.

Sir John Carrick's entire life was devoted to public service in the national interest. He served his country at war, returning from imprisonment at the hands of Japanese forces to be at the coalface of the Liberal Party in its first three decades. He served as a minister and as a government leader in this chamber under Malcolm Fraser before becoming a mentor to future generations of Liberal leaders. He consistently promoted education as the pathway to advancement for individuals and, therefore, society. Many have and will associate themselves with Sir John's legacy, but I finish with these words of the man himself from his first speech:

Over my lifetime I have had an abiding faith in the parliamentary institution. I believe that it is the most effective mechanism yet invented by man to express man's hopes, to ensure his security and to create the free society which, as his servant and not as his master, enables him to fulfil himself both spiritually and materially.

I therefore find myself a particularly willing servant of the Parliament and, through it, of the Parliament's mainspring, the people of Australia.

At a time when sometimes this institution, the parliament we serve, is seen in lesser lights than we would like, one thing we must take away from the life of Sir John Carrick is this expression of confidence in the institution in which all of us serve together. We again extend our sympathies to his family and friends at this time.

Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I also rise this afternoon to honour and pay tribute to the late senator Sir John Carrick AC, KCMG, a former New South Wales senator, minister, soldier and lion of the New South Wales Liberal Party. I want to acknowledge the words of my leader in the Senate, Senator Cormann, and thank him for those, and also acknowledge the words of the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Senator Wong, and thank her very much for the very generous observations that she made today.

Senator Carrick was, indeed, one of the finest servants of this nation. I want to place on the Senate record my appreciation for his decades of service and pay tribute to his achievements. He was, indeed, one of the most influential people in the New South Wales Liberal Party and on the New South Wales Liberal Party during its formative years following World War II. He began his career with the party when he took a temporary role in 1946, which began a lifetime career in politics. Two years later he became the general secretary, a role which he held until he entered the Senate.

He was, as I've said, a lion of the Liberal Party and a giant of the party but a humble man, shaped by his experiences in World War II. He joined the Australian Imperial Force in 1940 and was deployed to West Timor as part of Sparrow Force the following year to defend the island against the Japanese. Barely two months later he was captured and sent to Singapore's notorious Changi prison before being dispatched to the Thai-Burma Railway in 1943. As we know, there, prisoners experienced some of the most difficult and horrific conditions of the war. He, though, described his time as a prisoner of war as a 'great and enduring learning experience'. Despite the atrocities he saw and experienced, he was a believer that it was not people who create savagery but the evil compulsion of the system on the individual.

After the war, he again dedicated himself to public service. He entered the Senate in 1971 and held a number of ministerial positions, including as the Minister for Education from 1975 to 1979, and he was the Leader of the Government in the Senate from 1978 to 1983. His reforms to Australia's education system have had a profound and long-lasting impact on this nation.

After leaving the Senate in 1987, Sir John continued his contribution to education policy, chairing the New South Wales government's committee to review education legislation, the recommendations of which ultimately resulted in the New South Wales Education Reform Act 1990. His achievements in education reform were particularly recognised in 2008, when Sir John was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia.

I want to refer briefly to the remarks made by the Prime Minister in his speech on the condolence motion in the House of Representatives. I think this is a very fitting summary of Sir John himself:

Sir John's faith in our better nature gave him optimism and purpose, and he dedicated his life to this cause, strengthening our political system and ensuring that education fulfilled its potential as the ultimate instrument of individual improvement.

He was a generous mentor to many generations of Liberals, young and not so young, and many of us on this side of the chamber owe him a debt of gratitude for his good counsel. As New South Wales Liberal senators—those of us who sit on this side, who walk in his considerable footsteps—we owe him much. As a then Young Liberal in the early 1980s, I certainly found him a daunting public figure, acknowledging at the same time that he was much admired and much respected. At the mention of his name, a degree of gravity would fall over even collected groups of Young Liberals—a significant achievement indeed! And that is the way I think many members of the New South Wales Division of the Liberal Party will remember him: gravitas, sincerity and a life of public service.

Before he died, he told his family that, notwithstanding his extraordinary life and his extraordinary contribution, he did not want a state funeral. As a prisoner of war, he said, he had seen too many funerals. None of those had been afforded any fanfare. Sir John wanted to be equal to them and wanted to be farewelled as simply as possible, and he was. It says much about the man we remember and commemorate today, a person who gave so much to this nation as a soldier, a senator, a minister, a husband, a father and a grandfather and who did not want anything in return. I pay tribute to him today and express my sincere condolences to his family and to his friends.

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to also briefly associate myself with the remarks of Senator Cormann, Senator Wong and Senator Payne in paying tribute to the contribution of Sir John Carrick. I do so very proudly, following in his footsteps as the minister for education in Australia and noting the very fine words said by others regarding his thoughtfulness, his humanity and his respectful and considered approach in all of his dealings. It is particularly, indeed, his influence on our education system that I want to highlight briefly today, to acknowledge that his contribution to education policy both preceded his time as Minister for Education and continued long after his service as Minister for Education and that he was one who provided some of the foundation steps in terms of support for parental choice across Australia, influencing Sir Robert Menzies as Prime Minister in policy decisions taken by the Menzies government, as well as, of course, continuing that influence through, in particular during his time and service as the federal Minister for Education.

Indeed, in that time, Sir John helped to make Australia's schools and postschool systems the world-class institutions that we can and should still be proud of today. He appointed the first ever national review of teacher education, recognising, quite rightly, the paramount and fundamental role of teachers and the quality of teaching in terms of student outcomes and provision of the best possible education. He appointed and brought together the various postsecondary education commissions under Professor Peter Karmel, initiated the Williams review of postsecondary education and established new programs, particularly covering school-to-work areas and reformed areas of vocational education and training, such as in the nursing profession.

His work continued, as Senator Payne acknowledged, with the New South Wales government in the development of the New South Wales Education Act 1990, providing and setting guiding principles of that act that remain central to the provision of education in New South Wales to this very day, reflecting his firm views that every child has a right to an education and that families carry a central responsibility for that education of their children but that it is also the duty of the state to ensure that every child, with the support of families wherever possible, can access education of the highest quality.

Sir John's outstanding contribution to our nation and to the education of generations of Australians continues today. It's a legacy that he and his family should be proud of. It's one that the Liberal Party is especially proud of. I pay tribute to him and express and share my condolences with his family and friends.

Question agreed to, honourable senators standing in their places.